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Offering ASD Students Choice to Increase Academic Success

Research indicates that incorporating specific motivations such as offering choices increases the rate of performance on academic tasks and decreases disruptive behaviors. Choice can take on many forms as related to academic tasks.

As one example, students can be given several topics to choose from to complete an assignment. Students may also be given a list of several activities, of which they are to complete two. By giving them a choice, students are more likely to begin the assignment and even more likely to complete it.

Making a connection to general education strategies, differentiated instruction promotes the use of choice in a variety of ways. At a center or station, students can choose from a list of 5 to 6 activities.

How to Implement Choice in the Classroom

A math station list of choices might include a variety of activities that would be engaging and motivating:

 Put a puzzle together
 Play a game
 Build a structure
 Count the pieces in a puzzle to be sure I have all I need
 Make my own puzzle
 Make my own math game

A science station might have yet another list of fun activities to choose from:

 Read about insects.
 Make and label an insect diagram.
 Write five facts about insects.
 Choose one insect and make a poster about it.
 Use a magnifying lens to observe an insect in the jar.
 Write about what I observe on a clipboard.

Remember, choice comes in many forms. Offering the choice of a writing tool, “Would you like a pen or marker?” could make all the difference to kick start the learning process. Maybe even having a choice of where the activity will take place can increase a student’s motivation. We all like to feel in control and making a choice is one way for students to exert control in an appropriate way.

Jennifer Allen

After an extensive career broadcast marketing, Jennifer and her husband searched for answers when their oldest son hit the kinder years with great difficultly. After finally learning that their oldest son had Aspergers Syndrome, she left her career in television and became a full time mother to both of her sons. Jennifer elicited the participation of her sons and together they produced several independent programs including a children’s animated series titled Ameriquest Kids (now distributed by Landmark Media) as well as her documentary and book titled, Coping to Excelling: Solutions for school-age children diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism or Aspergers Syndrome.
The need for more information encouraged Jennifer to elicit a team of autism experts to provide weekly, original content to a website free to anyone seeking to live their best under the diagnosis of High-Functioning Autism/Aspergers Syndrome… appropriately titled: Aspergers101.com.